VanHook said he bought the tickets for family and friends to use after dinner.

"I'm not a Tarantino fan, but the actors and plot lured me in," VanHook said. "It'll be good to expose the younger kids to what slavery was like."

In a solid black Victoria Fine Arts Association T-shirt and three-inch tall sunglasses, Le Olive Rogge, 83, and her daughter Marcy Rogge, 58, were just in time for the first "Les Miserables" viewing at the local Cinemark.

"I was afraid it wasn't going to come here," Le Olive Rogge said. "We've been waiting for this all year."

For Michaela Schroeder, 17, this was her third year celebrating Christmas at the movies.

The Victoria West High School student was there to see "Les Miserables" with her sisters, mother and sister's boyfriend.

After hosting Christmas dinner for 45 guests, Jamie S. Cryan, 65, said an empty house gave her an excuse to get away from the post-holiday cleanup.